Surgical splint



March 19, 1957 v. B. NAPOLI SURGICAL SPLINT Filed June 1, 1954 lllll l 11/,

INVENT OR ATTORNEY United States Patent SURGICAL SPLINT Vincent B. Napoli, Gaithersburg, Md.

Application June 1, 1954, Serial No. 433,597

3 Claims. (Cl. 12887) This invention relates to surgical splints, and more particularly to improvements in such splints for use in first-aid emergency cases in the field where professional apparatus is not available.

One important object of the present invention is to provide a novel splint structure which shall be readily adaptable and usable under a wide variety of emergency first-aid conditions and occasions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a splint of the character designated having novel fastening devices for holding the splint in position on a body member to be supported thereby.

Another object of the invention is to provide a splint of the character designated which would be light in weight, durable in construction and more convenient in operation than similar splints heretofore employed for first-aid emergency work.

Another object of the invention is to provide a first-aid splint which may be used as a flat support or a wraparound support as the particular emergency case may require.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable splint of the character designated having a novel form of traction element detachably associated therewith to facilitate the use of the splint when traction force on a body member is required in a particular emergency case.

A further object of the invention is to provide a splint of the character designated which shall be adapted to give the patient a maximum amount of comfort during application of the splint to an injured body member in emergency cases.

These and other objects of the invention will be more manifest from the following specification and drawings, and more particularly set forth in the claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the inside of the splint;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the outside of the pl Figure 3 is a top plan view of an accessory attachment pad for the splint;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 4-4 of Figure 2, and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view on line 55 of Figure 3.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing there is shown a preferred embodiment of a first-aid splint constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention. The numeral 19 indicates the body portion of a splint having a configuration or shape primarily adapted to support a member of the human body, such as the leg or arm, for example. The novel construction contemplates an outer covering of relatively heavy fabric material indicated by numeral 11, and an inner lining of lighter fabric material indicated by numeral 12, this lighter material is preferably impervious to moisture or blood and the like. An intermediate layer of padding material 13 is provided and this may be of soft material such as loose cotton fibre for example. The layers of material comprising the body portion of the splint are of selected materials which shall be non-absorbent so that it may be readily cleaned and maintained in a sanitary condition.

The several layer parts of fabric and padding are secured together as a unit body by suitable parallel rows of stitching 14 as shown in Figure 4. It will be noted that these rows of stitching form a series of longitudinally disposed tufted rib-like portions 1515 which facilitate deforming the splint body to enclose a body member to which it may be applied.

The tufted rib-like portions include pockets 15-15, formed therein by the parallel rows of stitching and these pockets extend throughout the length of the splint fabric body. Certain of these pockets, alternate pockets for example, are adapted to receive reinforcing stays of rigid material indicated by the numeral 16 for rigidly holding the fabric material in contact with the injured body portion to which it may be applied. These stays are preferably made of wood but they may be made of metal or plastic if desired. It will be noted that these long rigid stay members are not removable from the stitchedmaterial pockets 15 in the splint covering and thus form an integral unit part of the splint.

The free side edges of the splint body are adapted to be brought together to form a member enclosing splint and when so formed are yieldably held in close adjustable engagement by appropriately spaced apart elastic material strap fastening members indicated by the numeral 17-17. An important feature of this arrangement is that each individual fabric section or region along the length of the splint may be individually secured or tensioned. The metallic contact fastening members for securing the individual straps include the usual type of a male snap element 18 riveted to the body portion of the splint, and a cooperating female portion 19 secured near the end portion of the associated elastic strap. This arrangement is particularly desirable because in many emergency cases of bone fractures the individual regions must be maintained relatively free of pressure which is not possible when the ordinary lacing or substantially non-yielding fasteners are employed as in such splints heretofore used prior to my invention.

Another important feature of the present novel construction is the provision of an associated traction element 20 in the form of an adjustable extension bar member rigidly fastened at the lower extremity of the splint body 16. This rigid bar is preferably in the form of a metal U-shaped member or stirrup with its upper side extensions provided with equally spaced holes 2121 corresponding in distance with complementary holes 22-22 (not shown) provided in the lower extremities of rigid stay members 16-16. The stirrup sides are secured by suitable wing-nut bolts 2323. When it is desired to adjust the distance of the stirrup relative to the splint extremity to accommodate a different length body member the wing bolts 23-23 are removed and the stirrup adjusted longitudinally to another set of longitudinally spaced holes on the sides of the U-shaped bar and then secured to provide the desired length to accommodate the body member to which the splint may be applied. While I have shown bolts for accomplishing the desired adjustment it is obvious that other forms of adjustment means may be employed to accomplish the desired lengthy result.

Another feature of the stirrup shaped traction bar is that it forms the lower extremity of the splint in the semi-circular shape to receive an injured member as well as serve as a convenient handle to hold the splint when applying it to an injured member.

The upper portion of the splint body is provided with fractured member.

a. supplemental detachable cushion member 24. This member is made of similar fabric and padding material as that incorporated in thet'main splint body. This cushterial to be slightly deformed to a desired shape so as .to. add to: the patientsucomfort when in use; [The pad is particularly useful when the splint is placed on the leg of p the patient and it isrnecessary to apply traction tothe When traction is thus applied the :splint iscaused to move into the groin of the patient and the pad is highly desirableto relieve thepatient of any unnecessary pain which is usually caused by the ordinary form of wrapfaround splint heretofore employed. The cushion is provided along the'side' thereof with a longitudinally extended vwebbedtor .fiat portion 25. This fiat portion also-includes the usual form of separable snap fasteners for attaching the-cushion along the upper extremity edge of'the splint as shown inFigures 1 and 2.

' The cushion24 is also provided with a longitudinally disposed stitched material pocket 26 for receiving relatively shortreinforcing stays 27-27. These-stays are removable and may be placed end to end as shown in dotted line in Figure .3. The pockets. 26 in the cushion are provided with openings 28, .29 at the opposite ends thereof to receive the stay members as desired when the cushion is employedras an arm splint, for example.

Another important feature of the cushion 24 is that it may be used as aheadrest .when the splint is employed as a back support for the human body. .When the cushion is detached from the ,main splint body it maybe used as an arm splinttwhich is bendable at the middle and secured around the arm by the use of-the same type of elastic material strap fasteners as those employed on the splint body. 1

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that various changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An emergency first aid splint comprising an elongated padded fiexible body portion adapted to be wrapped around an injured body member, said padded portion including inner and outer superimposed pieces of fabric material, an intermediate layer of padding'material coextensive with the fabric pieces, spaced apart parallel roWs of stitching extending throughout the length of the pieces of material to hold and form the fabric and padding in longitudinal tufted rib sections,.certain rows of stitching also forming the material into longitudinal pocket sections, longitudinally extending spaced apart stay members enclosed in certain of said pockets for reinforcing and supporting the splint padding, longitudinally spaced apart transversely extending flexible strap members of elastic material at the meeting edges of the splint for yieldably securing diiferent sections of the longitudinal' meeting edges of the padded body together when enclosing an injured body member and means on each strap member for separately adjusting the elastic tension of each strap longitudinally of the splint to regulate the pad'pressure at a particular region along the injured body enclosed by said splint.

'2. An emergency first aid splint comprising an elon gated padded flexible body portion adapted to be wrapped around an injured body member, said padded portion including inner and outer superimposed pieces of fabric material, an intermediate layer of padding material, coextensive with the fabricpieces, spaced apart parallel rows of stitching extending throughout the length of the pieces of material to hold and form the fabric and padding in longitudinal tufted rib -sections, certain rows of stitching also forming the --material into longitudinal pocxet sections, longitudinally extending spaced apart stay members enclosed in certainof said pockets for rein-" forcing and supporting the splint padding, longitudinally spaced apart transversely extending flexible strap members of elastic material at the meeting edges of the splint for yieldably securing different sections of the longitudinal meeting edges of the padded body together when enclosing an injured body member, a cushion type padded body member extending across and beyond the-top end of the splint and means on the top. edge. portion of'the splint and the edge of the cushion for detachably conmeeting the cushion. pad to the splint body.

3. An emergency first. aid splint comprising anrelongated padded flexible body portion adapted to be wrapped around an injured body member, said padded portion including inner and outer superimposed pieces: of fabric material, an intermediate layer of padding material, coextensive with the fabric pieces, spaced apart parallel rows of stitching extending throughout the length of the traction bar member having its legs secured to the lower extremity of. each of two oppositely disposed longitudinal stay members and extending beyond the padded body portion whereby the splint sides are positioned in curved relation to receive an injured body member enclosed in the curved splint between the two stay members, and means for adjusting the positionof the traction 'bar relative to the padded splint body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,226,013 Roth Mayv 15, 1917 1,916,789 Fordham July 4, 1933 2,655,916 Timmins Oct..20, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 603,041 Great Britain June 8, 1948 man -w 

